The Hilltoppers bounced back from spankings in the first and third games to down New Bedford 3-2 (14-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 15-8) in Big 3 Conference volleyball on Monday on the Luke Urban Field House’s Skip Karam Court.

In the fifth game, Durfee (6-6, 1-2 league) shot out to leads of 5-0 and 11-3.

By winning this match, the Hilltoppers kept their league title hopes alive. If they defeat Brockton here on May 14, all three Big 3 members would finish at 2-2.

New Bedford (5-6, 2-2) came into this match hoping to clinch at least a share of the Big 3 title. Now the Whalers need Durfee to defeat Brockton in the 2014 league finale to gain that share of the crown.

“We needed that one,” Durfee coach Brendan Kelly said. “New Bedford beat us in five up there last month. To return the favor was good.”

Two kills by Ryan Carter and one by Dan Meyen gave Durfee a 3-0 lead in the fifth game. With Durfee up 7-3, Carter stepped to the line and jump-served three straight untouched aces as part of a 4-0 run that created the 11-3 lead.

After the first of those aces, New Bedford coach Jeff Longo was hit with a yellow and red card for complaining about calls to the game officials. That resulted in a penalty point.

New Bedford got as close as 13-8 before Colby Cabral killed for Durfee. The Whalers hit long on match point.

“We talk about it all the time, the fact that last game is a short game,” Kelly said. “So you want to be able to jump out momentum-wise. And I thought we did a great job of doing that. Danny Meyen gets some good blocks. Keith Worsley gets some good blocks. It seems that Thunder Dan gets those blocks in the fifth game when it counts every game. We made some good decisions and were able to jump out and stay out.”

Mixing power and touch, Carter finished with 18 kills, six in the fourth game. “He hit the ball well,” Kelly said.

Middle Sedryk Sousa, alert to pounce on New Bedford’s long passes and sets, had four kills in both the second and fourth games en route to 10.

“He stepped up big time,” Kelly said. “We wanted to establish the middle and really get some things going. Game 2 he did that, he did a great job with that. Then in (Game) 4 he brought it again. And his emotion was contagious.”